Process of producing wax carbon spots on sheets of paper by impression on an ordinary printing press



Oct. 10, 1933. G. A. RUTKosKlE 1,930,429

PROCESS 0F vPRODUCING' WAX CARBON SPOTS ON SHEETS OF PAPER BY IMPRESSION ON AN ORDINARY PRINTING PRESS Filed April 14, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. 1

:9m a. @5x5/ Oum? i@ @www Oct. 10, 1933. G A. RUTKOSKlE 1,930,429

PROCESS OF PRODUCING WAX. CARBON SPOTS ON SHEETS OF PAPER BY IMPRESSION ON AN ORDINARY PRINTING PRESS Filed April 14, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 10, 1933. I Q A. RUTKosKlE 1,930,429

PROCESS OF PRODUCING WAX CARBON SPOTS ON SHEETS OF PAPER BY IMPRESSION ON AN ORDINARY PRINTING PRESS Filed .April 14, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 10, 1933. G A' RUTKOSKlE 1,930,429

PROCESS OF PRODUCING VVAX CARBON SPOTS ON SHEETS' OF PAPER BY IMPRESSION ON AN ORDINARY PRINTING PRESS Filed ,April 14, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Snom/tto;

Oct. 10, 1933- G. A. RUTKosKlE PROCESS OF PRODUGING WAX CARBON SPOTS 0N SHEETS .0F PAPER BY IMPRESSION ON AN ORDINARY PRINTING PRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed .April 14, 1931 ::Vm- Ez :E:

Snmwtqz r 3%@ i ,Patented Oct. 10, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE George A. Rutkoskie, Athens, Ohio, assigner to The McBee Company, Athens, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 14, 1931. Serial N0. 529,908

3 Claims. (Cl. 9170) My invention relates to that class of carbon paper on which it is desirable to have a considerable portion of the sheet without any carbon thereon, so that only a portion of the matter written on the top sheet will be transferred to the sheets below, apparatus for producing which is set forth in myv copending application Serial No. 529,907, led April 14, 1931.

My invention has for its object to provide a 9 process which, if followed will enable the user to produce, on an ordinary printing press, sheets of paper having spots of carbon of any predetermined conliguration located in dei'lnite positions and desired locations on any kind of paper, limited only by the size of the printing press.

l have discovered that unlike ordinary printers ink, wax carbon when melted does not possess any taci: and that in order to successfully transter to a printing plate the rollers utilized for l@ that purpose. must always be rotating at the time when they come in contact with each other.

i have also discovered that it is necessary to have means not only for melting the Wax carbon compound (which is best done in the inlr fountain of the press) but it is also necessary to maintain the rollers at a proper temperature `lor transferring the melted compound and it is also necessary to maintain the ink plate and the lock-up form to which the printing plate is secured at a correct temperature.

'i have found by practice that it is highly desirable to provide means to vary the temperature or" the heating elements (preferably electrio) so that the operator can change the heat to suit the atmospheric conditions under which the press may be operating. l have also found that it is desirable to provide for the reception and convenient disposal or any excess oi the melted wax carbon or any of it which by aci hereunto annexed and made apart of the specification but l. wish to be understood that they are furnished solely for illustrative purposes inesmuch as my process can be carried by a numloer of different forms of apparatus and is not in any way limited to the details of construction shown on the drawings and described in the hereinafter contained description.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a top or plan view of my invention applied to an ordinary automatic feed printing press;

Fig. 2 is a perspectivev view showing the rollers opened permitting a clear view of the ink fountain.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view with the rollers in position;

Fig. l is an end elevation of the gear side of the press showing the gear on the vibrator roller in mesh with the gear on the ductor roller;

Fig. 5 is a similar View showing the gear on the vibrator roller in mesh with the gear on the ink fountain roller;

Fig. 6 is the wiring diagram of the various heating elements;

Fig. 'l is a top or plan view of the bed of the press showing the arrangement for heating the ink plate and the special heated lool; up base and the means :for maintaining electrical contact for the elements on the ink plate and the special lool;- up base;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section of the sliding contacts on the line S-e in Fig. 7 showing the carbon brushes; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view oi a form after it has received the spot carbon impressions.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar `parts throughout the entire description.

As shown in the drawings the type bed l of an ordinary printing press has mounted thereon a special lock-up base. This base is heated by elecso as to provide means to regulate the tension which the springs exert upon the carbon brushes. it will be apparent from this description that the type bed l can be reciprocated without in an manner aiecting the effectiveness of the electrical contacts which convey current to the heating lll@ elements in the lock-up base 2.

The ink plate 10 is also heated by an., electric element ll which is connected to the sliding contacts 4 and is controlled by the same switch l2 which conveys current to the carbon brushes 11. 11G

This switch is a standard switch providing three positions, high, medium and low, so that varying degrees of temperature for the heating elements 3 and 11 can be maintained.

The dry wax carbon compound is placed in an ink fountain 13 which is heated by an electric heating element 14 located directly under the ink fountain 13, the element being connected by suitable conductors 24 to a standard switch 15. The melted compound is separated by the ink fountain roller 16 and carried to the steel vibrator 17 by the ductor roller18 which is preferably formed of a special composition which will withstand approximately a temperature of 200 F.

The melted compound is distributed to form rollers 19 and 20 also constructed of av special composition, by the aid of a standard rubber roller 21 used for ordinary printing, this roller riding the steel vibrator 17 and ductor 18. Adjacent these rollers I also provided an electric heating element 22 which is connected to a standard switch 15 by suitable conductors 25. I remove one of the form rollers from the press, and mount in its place a heating element 26 which is connected by suitable conductors 27 to a switch 28. The other form rollers 19 and 20 are carried in the usual roll bearing brackets 29 and 30, the brackets 31 being used to hold the heating element 26 in position, this element being necessary to keep the melted compound and the rollers at the correct working temperature. As already pointed out, I have discovered that unlike ordinary printing ink, the wax carbon which is used V in producing this spot carbon paper has no tack and therefore it is necessary that all of the rollers have a positive drive and that if, at the time of contact the rollers are not rotating, it is impossible to produce a satisfactory job. Therefore, I have found it necessary to provide additional gears for such rollers as are not equipped with gears in the regular press.

As is well known, the form rollers 19 and 20 drive the gears 32 and 33 on the steel vibrators 17 and 21 which mesh with gears 34 and 35 on the form rollers, all of these gears being located inside of the frame of the press and being driven by the reciprocation of the rack 36 in the usual manner.

However, I have to provide a special gear 37 for the fountain roller 13 and a gear 38 for the ductor roller 18 and a gear 39 for the steel vibrator. The gears on the ink fountain roller 16 and the steel vibrator roller 17 drive the gear 38 on the ductor roller as it travels between the ink fountain roller 13 and the steel vibrator 17.

As stated before, it is absolutely essential that these rollers rotate at the time of contact. I find it desirable, therefore, to form the teeth of the gears 37, 38 and 39 pointed so that it will beimpossible for them to contact edge to edge as the ductor roller travels back and forth and thus fail to properly mesh with the teeth of the adjoining gear. As seen in Fig. 4 the gear 38 on the ductor roller 18 in mesh with the gear 39 on the steel vibrator 17.

In Fig. 5, the ductor roller has caused the gear 38 to engage the gear 37 on the ink fountain roller. A coil spring 40 is mounted on the end of the shaft 41 of the vibrator roller 17 and exerts a tension against the gear 39 which is splined on the shaft 41 thus insuring it always being in the proper 4plane to mesh with the gear 38 on the ductor roller 18 as it travels back and forth be- I tween the ink fountain roller and the Steel V- brator roller 17.

I have found that it is desirable to mount the switches for the control of the electric current on a panel 42. As clearly seen from the wiring diagram these switches allow for three heats, low, high, and medium, which I have found is absolutely necessary in order to produce satisfacto results.

The heating element 26 is provided with al shield 43 preferably made of cold rolled steel, the bottom part of the shield which is nearest the roller extending out about three-fourths of an inch to form a drip pan 44. One side of this pan is closed and the lother has-two drain4 tubes 45 which serve to carry oif any of the melted compound which may drop from the ductor roller 18, which can easily happen if more compound is allowed to com e through the fountain than can be taken care of conveniently by the ductor roller 18. I also attach to the shield 43 an extension 46 which extends to the rear end of the press and directly under the ink fountain 13. This extension 46 also forms a drip pan to catch any of the compound which might drop from the fountain 13. These drip pans are very essential to the success of any good work for should any compound come in contact with the bare element 26 it would immediately crystallize and if this crystallized wax should come in contact with the printing plate 47 it would stick to the plate and each particle of this crystallized compound would cause the good compound to be separated and make a spotted print instead of a solid one.

Thus the shield 43 and extensions 46 protect any excess compound from being crystallized and either holds it until it is removed or if melted it will drain through the drain tubes 45 which can be arranged to drip into a pan (not shown) outside of the press. This not only keeps the work clean, but also saves any excess compound that might drop from the ductor roller 18 or the 115 ink fountain 13.

On the lock-up base 2 I mount a printing plate 47, only one being shown though obviously any number or shape cf plates may be used, this plate which is nothing more nor less than a. regular electro plate used for producing solids in ordinary printing. This printing plate 47 obviously can be of any desired shape and I provide for it being held in the desired position on the lock-up base 2 by means of adjustable clamps 48 which are 125 held in place by screws 49 which extend into the lock-up base 2. This lock-up base 2 is preferably provided with a plurality of apertures which are drilled and tapped one inch apart and coun- Y tersunk to permit the use of flat machine screws 49. I have found it necessary to keep the screws 49 in the apertures in the lock-up base 2 at all times in order that the melted wax may not fill up the holes. I have found that it is preferable to have the face of the printing plates 47 nickeled 135 and polished as this produces a very much smoother iinish and a much more even one for the carbon than where they are not so finished.

I have also found that in order to obtain the best results it is necessary to cover the printing 14() cylinder 50 with a soft felt packing 51 instead of the usual draw sheet used in ordinary printing. By the use of this elastic cushion, I am able to keep the edges of the printed form free u from excess carbon and to produce a. much better result.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that all of the parts used on the press-for printing spot carbon by impression can be quickly and easily removed from the press with the ex- N50 ception of heating element 11 under the ink plate 10 and the heating element 14 under the ink fountain 13 thus allowing the press to be used on the regular class of letter press printing.

Practice has shown that the temperature necessary to obtain satisfactory results is very essential. As stated before, too much heatcauses the compound to penetrate the stock and is liable to burn the carbon while not enough heat will cause the compound to collect on the printing plate in excess and makes anr uneven print which easily offsets when put under the trimming knife when the carbonized forms are trimmed to proper size. It is necessary at all times to watch the heat on all of the elements which can be controlled by the control switches on panel 42. On account of the high temperature care must be used in putting the rollers in and out of the press so that they do not come in contact with the heating elements which would damage the rollers. If it becomes necessary to stop the press longer than one minute the composition rollers should be removed. As long as the rollers are in motion it is not necessary that stock be run through the press. It is always well to clean the printing plate before running stock after the press has been standing idle with the heat turned on the lock-up base 2, this precaution should betaken as the carbon in the compound will burn out around 200 degrees F. and when this happens you get several impressions that look right but will not make a copy, which defeats the carbon purpose. As it takes approximately one and a half hours to heat the compound,V press and rollers to the right working temperature I find it is desirable to place the composition rollers in an electric heated steel cabinet (not shown) which brings the rollers to the correct temperature with no loss of time. Whenever the composition rollers are taken from the press they should always be put back in this cabinet. By melting the compound before putting same in the ink fountain 13 considerable time can be saved and at the same time the compound can be inspected for the hard particles that it may contain. The best results are obtained by keeping the entire unit at the lowest temperature, that will give satisfactory results.

The compound used can be procured from any one of the leading ink manufacturers and can be procured in black, red, blue green and purple. When melted the compound must be absolutely free from any hard particles no matter how small as they will cause the same results as the crystallized ink as mentioned before. When the results show white spots onthe print it is either one of two things, crystallized compound or particles in the compound that will not melt. The shield 43 and drip pans 44 and 46 attached to the heating element 26 should take care of the crystallization and by melting the compound in a vessel and straining it through a very nne brass strainer before placing it in the ink fountain, I can eliminate the hard particles in the compound.

Care must be exercised in setting the form rollers 19 and 20. The setting should be done while the rollers are hot as it is only natural that being rubber they will swell to some extent. They should be set so they barely touch the ink plate 10 otherwise they are liable to go to pieces when they come in contact with either the ink plate 10 or the printing plate 14 that is secured to the lock-up base 2.

When any of the rollers fail to turn the melted compound will immediately collect at the bottom of such roller and run off, which not only causes waste but stops the distribution of the compound making an uneven impression, also lling up the lock-up base 2, which Will eventually be transferred to the paper stock as it travels around the cylinder causing more waste.

It will be obvious from the hereinbefore'contained description that my invention makes it possible to employ an ordinary automatic feed printing press for the purpose of producing spots of wax carbon which can be located at any predetermined position on a sheet of paper, as many spots as may be desired and as varied shapes for the carbon spot as may be required for the work in hand. It is also possible to run colors. The ink fountain 13, being provided with a divider 52 of standard construction used on printing presses for this purpose. It will also be seen that it is possible to remove the added parts when the spot carboning work is completed and the press can be used for its regular work since the heating elements which are not easily removable can be turned off and they do not interfere with the operation of the press in the slightest degree.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a process which, .if followed, will produce the desirable results hereinbefore outlined.

Having described my invention what I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of producing wax carbon spots at predetermined locations uponsheets of paper which consists of heating wax carbon to a predetermined temperature, transferring said melted carbon by rolling contact to rollers, intermittently contacting said rollers, positively driving' said rollers so as to maintain said rollers in rotation at the time of contact and during such contact, maintaining said rollers at a predetermined temperature and applying the melted carbon to the paper by a reciprocating velectrotype which moves at a tangent to the sheet.

2. The method of producing wax carbon spots at predetermined locations upon sheets of paper which consists of heating the wax carbon to a predetermined temperature, transferring said melted carbon by rolling contact to rollers, contacting said rollers, positively driving said rollers so as to maintain said rollers in rotation at the time of contact and during such contact maintaining said rollers at a predetermined temperature and applying the melted carbon to the paper by a reciprocating electrotype which moves at a tangent to the sheet.

3. The method of producing wax carbon spots at predetermined locations upon sheets of paper which consists of heating wax carbon to a predetermined temperature, transferring said melted carbon by rolling contact to rollers, intermittently contacting said rollers, positively driving said rollers so as to maintain said rollers in rotation at the time of contact and during such contact, applying it to a sheet of paper by an electrotype while reciprocating said electrotype which moves at a tangent to the sheet, and maintaining the wax carbon and said rollers at a predetermined temperature continuously from the time it is first melted until it is applied to the paper.

GEORGE A. RUTKOSmE. 

